Tips, Tricks and Road Stories

Using Multi-Effects To Get Great Guitar Tone

I am Dane Bryant Frazier. I am a 15-year -old self-taught multi-instrumentalist. I play the drums,
guitar, piano, and bass. I am also a writer and composer for films.

I have been playing drums since 2002, guitar since 2008, bass since 2010, and piano since
2011. I have been influenced by the artists Peter Frampton, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Steve Vai,
John Mayer, and composer and pianist, Yanni. I play a variety of styles such as Classic Rock,
Blues, and Classical.

For now, I will be talking about how I get my guitar tone. I have had quite a few people
commenting on my YouTube videos asking how I get my tone, so I have written an article below about
how I do it. You can watch the videos by clicking on the links in the sidebar.

My Favorite Zoom Multi Effect—The G9.2ttFirst off, I made all tones with one of my most favorite purchases, The Zoom G9.2tt. Not one
day goes by that I’m not glad that I bought it. When I am in the mood to get a different sound out
of my pedal, I start off by deciding what style I want (Blues, Classic Rock, Hard Rock, Classical),
type of sounds (such as Warm, Thick, Thin, Clean), and whether I want lead or rhythm. I almost
always get the exact sound of the pedal that I want.

After I have decided on what particular style I want the tone to be, I toggle the channels to
find what I like best and what fits that style. For example, let’s say I choose a rougher, almost
metal lead. In this case, this will be the main guitar tone. I have used this tone for roughly half
my videos.

Channel DriveI set the channel drive to PV. The reason I chose PV is because it is a much rougher, yet
warm drive that is great for leading and rhythm. I have been very happy with it and continue to use
it all the time.

Setting The EQAfter I change the drive, I mess with the tone, low-mids, and harmonics. Usually the
harmonics are set really high, if not the highest. The low-mids are usually a couple away from the
max, and the tone is usually set to the default at around 18. Now that everything is set, I will
play a few notes to see what it sounds like. Usually it sounds fine, but if it is still not exactly
what I'm looking for, then I change the treble, presence, mids, and bass accordingly. I am usually
into more warm tones, rather than straight tones with a lot of treble and mid tones.

Adding Filter and Modulation EffectsAfter all of that, assuming I like what I hear, I may add a filter such as wah, phaser, slow
attack, or a booster.

I will say that I rarely use wah on my music, but I almost always have a booster on my
patches. The booster does exactly what it says; it boosts the tone and pushes it higher than it
really is. I have been incredibly happy with the way the boost works. You have the gain, tone, and
volume. The great thing about the volume is that you can go to the lowest point and it still sounds
the same, just with a lower sustain. Then once you turn the volume higher, the boost sounds the
same, except there is more sustain.

Another reason why I like the booster is that its gain and tone control make a Les Paul sound
similar to a Strat. You can also give it high gain, but low tone. If you do that, it
almost sounds like Eric Clapton with a lot of sustain! Though, for me personally, I am into
sounding like myself rather than copying one of my favorite artists.

Now that all of that is complete, I am able to go to my modulation and add chorus, studio
chorus, flanger, pitch shifters, and several more effects. Then I may add some delay. One of
my favorites is Reverb! Once I have all of that set, I save the patch and check it out!

Thanks a lot for reading! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact
me at: danefraziermusic@gmail.com or message me on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/Dfraz96

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